The Cedars senior living community in Portland, in collaboration with the Westbrook Housing Authority and University of New England School of Nursing, proudly announces the launch of Telehealth Intervention Programs for Seniors (TIPS), an innovative initiative designed to enhance social connection and improve health and wellbeing among Maine’s older adult population. The kick-off presentation took place last Friday at the Robert L. Harnois Apartments, Westbrook Housing Authority. The program is directed by The Cedars’ Sue Dionne-Jones, VP of Nursing! TIPS offers weekly health checks from a licensed nurse such as blood pressure, oxygen levels, pulse, etc. “The Cedars views TIPS as a proactive measure to empower older adults to maintain independent living at home while significantly enhancing their well-being and community involvement,” said Kathryn Callnan, President and CEO of The Cedars. “By addressing both medical and social needs, we anticipate a reduction in hospitalizations, rehospitalizations, emergency room visits, and...
We are SO excited that our very own Jenna Perkins, CNA-M, has been honored with the LeadingAge Maine & New Hampshire Standing Ovation Award! Jenna was given the Benjamin G. Elder Memorial Award for Excellence in Service at the LeadingAge Conference yesterday with her parents and Cedars’ leadership there to support! Jenna truly exemplifies what it means to be a team player and her compassion is palpable. “She is a team player and so willing to help. Jenna’s end goal is always excellent patient care.” states Nursing Administrative Coordinator, Debra Russell. Jenna puts the residents first and truly defines the practice of person-centered care. Jenna joined The Cedars as a CNA in long-term care in 2017 and has continued her education enrolling in an Associates nursing program this past fall. We could not be prouder of Jenna and know she will continue to grow and thrive in her field, touching...
Under the auspices of Spiritual Care Services of Maine, Sally Thomas has been providing chaplain services at The Cedars since June of 2023. She visits each of four Cedars neighborhoods once a month, offering both one on one pastoral care and group conversation. In each neighborhood she works with the Lifestyles Managers to help her understand what might be interesting or useful and then makes plans for conversation for each setting. Like many chaplains she knows, much of her training was gotten in a medical setting–in her case, during the many years she worked as an RN in oncology. Her monthly visits to the Atrium follow a pattern: first she checks with participants giving each a chance to share what’s on their mind; then she presents a story, usually with material props of some kind, to provide a basis for spiritual conversation. (At a recent meeting, in telling an...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Leadership.
The Cedars develops new programs and technologies, advances critical research, and expands person-centered care. Here are just a few examples: Advancing Clinical Excellence The Cedars Skilled Nursing was one of only 500 programs nationwide recognized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as an Age-Friendly Health System Committed to Care Excellence, a national initiative to improve quality of care for older adults. Advancing Programs for Residents As part of our diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion program, The Cedars partnered with the Portland Museum of Art to provide the first museum-based art program for people living with dementia and their care partners, a creative, supportive way to connect with their greater community. Advancing Research The Cedars partnered with the University of New England (UNE) in a groundbreaking study of people living with dementia to explore best practices for engagement and growth, and to change perceptions about memory loss. Advancing Workforce Development...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Leadership.
September 2023 THE CEDARS CONTINUES to take an innovative leadership role in older adult living and healthcare in Portland and throughout Maine. Our commitment to the people we serve, our amazing staff, and the community leaders who help guide us never wavers. We are extraordinarily proud of how our community has responded to the international health crisis, COVID-19, we have all faced. We have great optimism about the future and would like to reflect on The Cedars recent accomplishments. Since the Grand Opening of the Sam L. Cohen Households in March 2021, the transformation to person-centered care has been incredibly successful. In the Households, residents live life their way in a place they call home. This experience has led the leadership to commit to creating more Households in the future. The Cedars has advanced from its well-earned reputation as a top performing care community to a nationally recognized research...
On July 25, 2023, Dr. Susan Wehry spoke about Optimal Engagement at a cocktail party held at the home of Judy Glickman Lauder and Leonard Lauder. Bernard Osher was recognized for his contribution to this important project. The Cedars partnered with the University of New England (UNE) to study better supports for people with dementia. An interdisciplinary group of UNE graduate students in healthcare fields dug deep into scientific literature to identify best practices, evidence-based strategies, and gaps in knowledge under the direction of Susan Wehry, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, UNE College of Medicine, who co-leads the initiative with Angela Hunt, RPT, MS, our Chief Innovation Officer. The team’s recommendations will be reviewed by panels which include people living with dementia. This feedback and insight will inform the development of widely accepted, person-centered best practices that will have a transformative impact on older adults living with dementia and their...
In August, 2019, Troy D. Jackson, President of the Maine Senate appointed The Cedars President and CEO, Kathy Callnan to the Commission to Study Long-term Care Workforce Issues. Kathy will be serving the commission as a representative of a statewide association representing nonprofit housing and senior service programming. The Cedars has been focused on the workforce crisis, particularly as it applies to Maine’s older adults and their need to access care, for over ten years. With Maine have the oldest median age at 44 years, we have been working tirelessly to educate tomorrow’s workers on the opportunities in building a career in healthcare. With The Cedars Learning Community, our emphasis on person-centered care, and the upcoming Household Model of Care (construction begins September 2019), we have been forging partnerships to drive innovation at The Cedars. Our goal is to share our approaches to education, innovation, workforce development and the...
Angie Hunt, Chief Operating Officer at The Cedars was recently invited by Leading Age Missouri to share her expertise on post-acute care and value-based purchasing. On Wednesday, May 8 at the Third Annual Summit for Acute and Post-Acute Care Providers: Insights and Perspectives on Care Coordination and Value-Based Payment, Angie spoke on a panel to discuss Care Collaboration and Value-Based Care. Moderator Margaret Donnelly, VP of Post-Acute Care Services at St. Lukes Health System explained that the adoption of value-based care models is expected to account for 59 percent of healthcare payments by 2020, as the healthcare industry uses value-based care to address the high-cost utilizers. Payer-provider collaboration, holistic healthcare approaches that address the social determinants of health, and the use of health IT tools will be among the most important drivers of value-based care. Angie spoke as a frontline provider from the perspective of skilled nursing or post-acute...
The Cedars recently received the Programming Award from AJAS (Association of Jewish Aging Services) for “Partnering With Elders: Health and Creativity”, an innovative program that builds bridges across age and cognitive barriers through the use of art. Students from the University of Southern Maine and the University of New England come to The Cedars to earn course credits by participating in the Opening Minds Through Art program with our skilled nursing residents. In May, the program culminates in an exciting gallery opening which showcases the vivid and inspiring art that has been created by the residents throughout the year. Kathy Callnan, The Cedars President and CEO, accepted the award at the annual AJAS conference in La Jolla, California, on April 4,...
The Cedars is proud to announce that John Watson, Chief Financial Officer at The Cedars, has been elected to receive the Outstanding Advocacy Award from LeadingAge, a national association representing 6,000 non-profit aging-services organizations throughout the United States. The award honors John Watson as a tireless advocate at the State level for educating legislators, executive branch officials, and fellow nursing facility administrators regarding Maine’s current system of reimbursing nursing homes. Through his governor-appointed position on the Commission to Study Long Term Care, John worked with State Representatives to introduce a bill for a more equitable allocation system for care provided in nursing homes. In doing so, John was integral in reforming Maine Medicaid’s system of nursing home reimbursement and thereby assuring continued access to care for Maine’s oldest and frailest....
We are SO excited that our very own Jenna Perkins, CNA-M, has been honored with the LeadingAge Maine & New Hampshire Standing Ovation Award! Jenna was given the Benjamin G. Elder Memorial Award for Excellence in Service at the LeadingAge Conference yesterday with her parents and Cedars’ leadership there to support! Jenna truly exemplifies what it means to be a team player and her compassion is palpable. “She is a team player and so willing to help. Jenna’s end goal is always excellent patient care.” states Nursing Administrative Coordinator, Debra Russell. Jenna puts the residents first and truly defines the practice of person-centered care. Jenna joined The Cedars as a CNA in long-term care in 2017 and has continued her education enrolling in an Associates nursing program this past fall. We could not be prouder of Jenna and know she will continue to grow and thrive in her field, touching...
Under the auspices of Spiritual Care Services of Maine, Sally Thomas has been providing chaplain services at The Cedars since June of 2023. She visits each of four Cedars neighborhoods once a month, offering both one on one pastoral care and group conversation. In each neighborhood she works with the Lifestyles Managers to help her understand what might be interesting or useful and then makes plans for conversation for each setting. Like many chaplains she knows, much of her training was gotten in a medical setting–in her case, during the many years she worked as an RN in oncology. Her monthly visits to the Atrium follow a pattern: first she checks with participants giving each a chance to share what’s on their mind; then she presents a story, usually with material props of some kind, to provide a basis for spiritual conversation. (At a recent meeting, in telling an...
The Cedars develops new programs and technologies, advances critical research, and expands person-centered care. Here are just a few examples: Advancing Clinical Excellence The Cedars Skilled Nursing was one of only 500 programs nationwide recognized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as an Age-Friendly Health System Committed to Care Excellence, a national initiative to improve quality of care for older adults. Advancing Programs for Residents As part of our diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion program, The Cedars partnered with the Portland Museum of Art to provide the first museum-based art program for people living with dementia and their care partners, a creative, supportive way to connect with their greater community. Advancing Research The Cedars partnered with the University of New England (UNE) in a groundbreaking study of people living with dementia to explore best practices for engagement and growth, and to change perceptions about memory loss. Advancing Workforce Development...
September 2023 THE CEDARS CONTINUES to take an innovative leadership role in older adult living and healthcare in Portland and throughout Maine. Our commitment to the people we serve, our amazing staff, and the community leaders who help guide us never wavers. We are extraordinarily proud of how our community has responded to the international health crisis, COVID-19, we have all faced. We have great optimism about the future and would like to reflect on The Cedars recent accomplishments. Since the Grand Opening of the Sam L. Cohen Households in March 2021, the transformation to person-centered care has been incredibly successful. In the Households, residents live life their way in a place they call home. This experience has led the leadership to commit to creating more Households in the future. The Cedars has advanced from its well-earned reputation as a top performing care community to a nationally recognized research...
On July 25, 2023, Dr. Susan Wehry spoke about Optimal Engagement at a cocktail party held at the home of Judy Glickman Lauder and Leonard Lauder. Bernard Osher was recognized for his contribution to this important project. The Cedars partnered with the University of New England (UNE) to study better supports for people with dementia. An interdisciplinary group of UNE graduate students in healthcare fields dug deep into scientific literature to identify best practices, evidence-based strategies, and gaps in knowledge under the direction of Susan Wehry, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, UNE College of Medicine, who co-leads the initiative with Angela Hunt, RPT, MS, our Chief Innovation Officer. The team’s recommendations will be reviewed by panels which include people living with dementia. This feedback and insight will inform the development of widely accepted, person-centered best practices that will have a transformative impact on older adults living with dementia and their...
In August, 2019, Troy D. Jackson, President of the Maine Senate appointed The Cedars President and CEO, Kathy Callnan to the Commission to Study Long-term Care Workforce Issues. Kathy will be serving the commission as a representative of a statewide association representing nonprofit housing and senior service programming. The Cedars has been focused on the workforce crisis, particularly as it applies to Maine’s older adults and their need to access care, for over ten years. With Maine have the oldest median age at 44 years, we have been working tirelessly to educate tomorrow’s workers on the opportunities in building a career in healthcare. With The Cedars Learning Community, our emphasis on person-centered care, and the upcoming Household Model of Care (construction begins September 2019), we have been forging partnerships to drive innovation at The Cedars. Our goal is to share our approaches to education, innovation, workforce development and the...
Angie Hunt, Chief Operating Officer at The Cedars was recently invited by Leading Age Missouri to share her expertise on post-acute care and value-based purchasing. On Wednesday, May 8 at the Third Annual Summit for Acute and Post-Acute Care Providers: Insights and Perspectives on Care Coordination and Value-Based Payment, Angie spoke on a panel to discuss Care Collaboration and Value-Based Care. Moderator Margaret Donnelly, VP of Post-Acute Care Services at St. Lukes Health System explained that the adoption of value-based care models is expected to account for 59 percent of healthcare payments by 2020, as the healthcare industry uses value-based care to address the high-cost utilizers. Payer-provider collaboration, holistic healthcare approaches that address the social determinants of health, and the use of health IT tools will be among the most important drivers of value-based care. Angie spoke as a frontline provider from the perspective of skilled nursing or post-acute...
The Cedars recently received the Programming Award from AJAS (Association of Jewish Aging Services) for “Partnering With Elders: Health and Creativity”, an innovative program that builds bridges across age and cognitive barriers through the use of art. Students from the University of Southern Maine and the University of New England come to The Cedars to earn course credits by participating in the Opening Minds Through Art program with our skilled nursing residents. In May, the program culminates in an exciting gallery opening which showcases the vivid and inspiring art that has been created by the residents throughout the year. Kathy Callnan, The Cedars President and CEO, accepted the award at the annual AJAS conference in La Jolla, California, on April 4,...
The Cedars is proud to announce that John Watson, Chief Financial Officer at The Cedars, has been elected to receive the Outstanding Advocacy Award from LeadingAge, a national association representing 6,000 non-profit aging-services organizations throughout the United States. The award honors John Watson as a tireless advocate at the State level for educating legislators, executive branch officials, and fellow nursing facility administrators regarding Maine’s current system of reimbursing nursing homes. Through his governor-appointed position on the Commission to Study Long Term Care, John worked with State Representatives to introduce a bill for a more equitable allocation system for care provided in nursing homes. In doing so, John was integral in reforming Maine Medicaid’s system of nursing home reimbursement and thereby assuring continued access to care for Maine’s oldest and frailest....